Same design system as Channels, opposite information architecture. A channel is a hyper-local broadcast; a circle is a topic community at scale that needs critical mass to stay alive. So Circles lead with topic + trending, and use location as a lens — "popular in your state", "people near you joined" — the one thing Reddit can't do.
The circles you're in: 50px rounded-square avatar, last activity + unread, premium rows. Search + segment on top, "Discover" one tap away.
🔥 Trending circles (national) → 📍 Popular in your state (honest lens) → Browse by topic → Start a circle. Never the empty local list.
One premium row replaces today's three layouts. Adds the three forum signals a channel doesn't need: public/private · live activity · "near you" proof.
Tap a category → circles in it. A light [ All India · In your state ] filter — the location lens, NOT the channel's village ladder. (Phase 2: topic chips narrow further.)
Opens to filters + recent + popular (not a blank screen). Filter chips: All · Public · Active today · Near me.
Photo + name → topic → Public/Private → optional location lens → guidelines & rules collapsed at the end.
Same design language; an information architecture tuned for discussion at scale, with location as the wedge.
Category ≠ Topic — kept separate. Phase 1 = category (one fixed bucket per circle, channel-consistent) powers the browse grid. Phase 2 = topics (granular tags + a "trending topics" rail) layers on later. The Circles tab is just My Circles · Explore · Search (+ create) — reading lives in the timeline, where joined-circle posts already merge. Backend gaps to add: circle category field, an activity count, and "near you joined". Built on the Channels mockup's exact tokens.